“Do I even need a Vice President? They don’t do anything,” Trump asked a source of mine before rattling off what a disappointment Mike Pence was in his eyes.
Trump and Pence had an uneasy political marriage from the start. Despite decades in public office, Pence had instead a small name ID outside Indiana; he certainly wasn’t a household name but rather a lackluster campaigner. He won his election for Governor of deep red Indiana by just 2.9 percent in 2012, and his poll numbers were underwater going into re-election.
Despite his uneasiness with Trump as a man and deep uncertainty about whether he could win the 2016 election, Pence took his chances. After all, it’s much better for his national prospects to go out as a failed Vice Presidential candidate than a Midwestern governor who lost re-election.
Pence promised the Trump campaign credibility with conservative voters and Evangelicals; you can call it his political dowery, which was paid in full.
Looking back, Trump has told friends and associates he feels Pence was forced on him. He seems to have forgotten that his preferred choice, Chris Christie, would have likely ended up being a bigger disappointment.
So this time, Trump has suggested he’s looking for someone different- someone he enjoys being around. While he didn’t dislike Mike Pence, they weren’t exactly buddies. He has told friends and associates that he wants someone he vibes with for second in command.
Trump doesn’t believe a Vice President offers anything to a ticket. “They’re voting for me, not the other person on the ticket,” he has told people repeatedly. He’s not wrong; historically, it’s rare that a vice president offers much of anything on any presidential ticket. Some people close to him are unsure and believe he needs someone to bring suburbanites and women to the table. This internal struggle is played out in private conversations, on conservative news outlets, and on talk radio. Should Trump pick someone who will reflect his vision, especially the one he put out in 2016, and be a loyal ally, or should he pick someone they believe will help him win by adding to his coalition?
Given that he can only run for one term, anyone he picks will likely be the GOP nominee in 2028 if they choose to run. The only Vice President in history not to earn their party's nomination was Mike Pence in 2024. Still, there are risks; if Trump chooses to turn on them, it can end their political career.
“Why would anyone want to be Trump’s VP after seeing how he treated Pence, Sessions, Tillerson, Mattis, Barr, Kelly, Nielsen, and Guiliani?” a conservative writer asked me recently.
“Because even Henry VIII eventually ran out of wives to behead, and the one who survived got to inherit the castle,” I replied.
Given what’s at stake, here is the list of people seriously considering Trump’s Vice President slot, as told to me by several people close to his campaign: